UK kept providing aid to India even after Indian government denied it. But why?
Claim
British aid to India will rise from £33.4million to £57million, despite India being rich enough to fund Moon landings. UK has already sent India £2.3billion over 5 years. We shouldn’t be sending them a penny of British worker’s taxes. It’s clear where Slimy Sunak’s loyalty lies.
Rating
Explanation
India’s ISRO launched its third lunar mission Chandrayaan-3 in July and it successfully landed on the moon on August 23. India became the first country to land on the South Pole of the moon and became the fourth country to touchdown the moon. India received appreciation from across the world after the successful landing of Chandrayaan-3.
Amid this celebration, a claim made by Britain media and political parties sparked heated debate on social media platforms. Britain First, one of the political parties, posted on its X page about the UK’s aid of £2.3 billion to India in the last 5 years and about the increase of the aid from £33.4 million to £57 million despite the situation that India is rich enough to fund moon landings. It further stated that they should not be sending a penny of British worker’s tax anymore to India. The post also adds a Dailymail article screenshot as its source.
https://twitter.com/patrickchristys/status/1694419045116719294?s=46&t=kIszbQH_arRSG8kPbuGeZw
A news video by GB News also claimed the same. Patrick Christys, a Presenter for GB News congratulated India for its successful moon mission. And further asks India to return £2.3 billion that was sent to India by UK from 2016 to 2021. He also stated that UK should not give money to countries with a space programme while it is planned to send £57 million for next year.
The uk shouldn’t be sending aid to countries with space programs so advance they can land rockets on the other side of the moon
— Sophie Corcoran (@sophielouisecc) August 23, 2023
Other TV personalities, Sophie Corcoran and Bushra Shaikh also claimed the same mentioning that UK should not send aid to India where it has sent more than £2.3 billion to India in the last few years.
What is the truth?
When searching with relevant keywords we found a Times of India article dated March 2023 reporting that India stopped receiving aid from UK in 2015 saying it did not want it. The article further states that this phasing out of financial aid by 2015 was duly adopted by UK government policy in 2012.
With further search, we found Times of India and Telegraph articles reporting that in 2012, the then Finance Minister of India, Pranab Mukherjee mentioned that India did not want British aid describing it as ‘peanuts’. This discussion in the parliament sparked after India preferred the French fighter jet Rafale over Britain’s Typhoon.
However, Britain continued the aid due to its policy mentioning “We are changing our approach in India. We will target aid at three of India’s poorest states, rather than central Government. We will invest more in the private sector, with our programme having some of the characteristics of a sovereign wealth fund. We will not be in India forever, but now is not the time to quit.”
A report by UK aid watchdog revealed that around £2.3 billion in UK aid went to India between 2016 and 2021 despite it being stopped in 2015. A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) Spokesperson clarified, “Since 2015 the UK has given no financial aid to the government of India. Most of our funding now is focused on business investments which help create new markets and jobs for the UK, as well as India-UK investments are also helping tackle shared challenges such as climate change.”
The Daily Mail article which is quoted as a source in one of the viral posts reported that Britain’s aid to India is increasing from £33.4 million (last year) to £57 million next year amid the intense Britain government’s effort to finalise a new trade deal with India.
The Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI) in UK works to ensure UK aid is spent effectively. One of the reports on this website mentions that India was one of the largest recipients of UK aid in the decade before 2015. Since 2010, there has been a decreased trend of UK aid to India.
In 2011, the International Development Committee (IDC) published an inquiry that concluded that UK aid could only have a marginal impact on India’s development. The Department For International Development (DFID) in its response stated that it had stopped providing direct financial aid to the Indian government.
The report went on to say that UK gave India aid of about £1.9 billion between 2016 and 2020. This sum includes £480 million in bilateral aid, which includes financial support for development, technical assistance, and research.
The Guardian reported that according to the ICAI evaluation, between 2016 and 2021, the government gave India £2.3 billion in aid, including loans from the government-run British International Investment (BII) to largely smaller businesses. Given that India already has reasonably developed financial markets, the evaluation concludes that the overall programme is fragmented across activities and spending channels and lacks a compelling development rationale.
The article further stated, “The UK does not use its aid programme, enshrined in a joint roadmap signed by India and the UK in 2021, to support Indian democracy and human rights, despite backsliding in this area under the premiership of Narendra Modi, the review says.”
Conclusion
It is found that the UK decreased the aid to India in 2010 and stopped providing aid to the Indian government in 2015. However, it is clarified that the funds sent after 2015 to India are focused on business investments that help create new markets and jobs for the UK.
